Spongites sulawesiensis, a new species of Corallinaceae (Corallinales, Rhodophyta) from the Spermonde Archipelago, Sulawesi, Indonesia

3 Pages·1993·0.37 MB·English

by  Verheij, E

BLUMEA 38 (1993) 237-239
Spongites sulawesiensis, a new species of Corallinaceae
(Corallinales, Rhodophyta) from the
SpermondeArchipelago, Sulawesi, Indonesia
E.Verheij
Rijksherbarium/HortusBotanicus, Leiden,The Netherlands
Summary
Anewspecies ofcoralline algae,Spongitessulawesiensis.is described. Itsrelationshipto otherspe-
ciesbelongingtothe genus Spongitesis discussed. Also anewcombination is made in the genus
Mesophyllum, M.funafutiense.
Introduction
Acritical study ofthe nongeniculate Corallinaceae(Corallinales, Rhodophyta) from
theSpermonde Archipelago, SouthwestSulawesi, Indonesia(Verheij, 1992:fig. 1),
hasbeencarried out. Morethan750collections, including type and otherrelevant
collections, wereexamined.Among these,there is one species new forscience and
onespecies isreferredto anothergenus. Inthepresentpaper thisnew species is de-
scribedandthenew combinationis proposed.
OBSERVATIONSAND DISCUSSION
Spongites sulawesiensis Verheij, spec. nov.
Spongites sulawesiensis characteribus generisSpongites.S.sulawesiensis aspeciebusaliis generis
Spongitesdiffertcorona circa pores tetrasporangialesabsente,columella in centro conceptaculae
tetrasporangialispresente,et tectum tetrasporangialeplus quam 15 strata cellularumcrassum. —
Holotypus: Verheij1184,KudingarengKeke Island,SWSulawesi,Indonesia,depth25 m, 16-vii-
1990.
Plantsencrusting or encrusting withbranches. Crustose parts upto 10mm thick.
Thallus pseudoparenchymatous; cellsofadjacent filamentsconnectedlaterally by cell
fusions connections.
Crustoseparts and sheet-likeparts ofthallidorsiventralandmonomerous; ventral
region composed offilamentsmoreorless parallelling thesubstratumandorganized
mostly in a noncoaxialmanner(cells 6-12 pmindiameterand 15-20pm long);
dorsalregioncomposed ofportions offilamentscurving outwardly fromtheventral
region towardsthesurface(cells 5-8pmindiameterand 8-12pmlong).
Trichocytes (cells 8-13 pmindiameterand 15-20pmlong) present, usuallyoc-
curring solitary, inverticalrows, orin smallhorizontalfields atthethallus surface,
sometimes becoming buried.
238 BLUMEA Vol. 38, No. 1, 1993
Filamentseach terminatedby a single, rounded epithallialcell (cells 5-8 pmin
diameterand 3-5pmlong) andone subepithallial meristematic cellproducing new
epithallial cellsoutwardly oradditionalvegetative cellsinwardly.
Tetrasporangial conceptacles 650-800pminternaldiameterand 175-225pm
internalheight,raisedabovethesurrounding thallus surface. Tetrasporangial concep-
tacle roof15-25cells thick, formedby filaments surrounding thetetrasporangial
disc. Cells, surrounding the porecanal, moreor less parallel to the thallus surface
orientatedandprotrudingintoporecanal. Oldtetrasporangial conceptacles filledup
andbecoming overgrown. Alarge, centralcolumellapresent.
Maleconceptacles andfemaleconceptacles not observed.
Carposporangial conceptacles (600-700 pminternaldiameterand 175-225pm
internalheight)raising above thallussurface.
Diagnostic features- Spongites sulawesiensisisdistinguished fromotherspecies
ofSpongitesexamined inhaving thefollowing combinationoffeatures:
— Trichocytes solitary, inverticalrowsorhorizontalfields.
— Tetrasporangial conceptacle dimensions(650-800 pminternal diameter, 175—
225pminternalheight); roof15-25celllayers thick.
— Large, centralcolumellapresent.
— Carposporangial conceptacle dimensions(600-700 pminternaldiameter, 175—
225pm internalheight).
— Gonimoblastfilamentsconfinedto theperiphery ofthefusioncell.
Remarks - Penrose (1991) presented an account toSpongites fruticulosus. Spon-
gitesfruticulosus differsfromSpongites sulawesiensisin:a) presenceofasieve-like
plug in immaturetetrasporangial conceptacles, b) thickness ofthetetrasporangial
conceptacle roof(8-12 versus 15-25cells), andc) diameterofthe tetrasporangial
conceptacles (350-595 pmversus 650-800pm). Chamberlain(1993) referredtwo
species to the genusSpongites, i.e. S. yendoi and S. decipiens. Both species dif-
ferfromS. sulawesiensis in: a) the diameterofthe tetrasporangial conceptacles
(<500pm), b) the diameterofthecarposporangial conceptacles (< 500pm), and
c) thicknessoftheconceptacle roof(< 10cells).
Spongites sulawesiensis is inappearancedifficult to distinguish fromNeogonio-
lithonbrassica-floridum; however,anatomically thisis mucheasier.
Etymology - Theproposed epithet sulawesiensisrefers tothe IndonesianIsland
wherethespecies was foundforthefirsttime.
Representativespecimensexamined: BarangLompoIsland,depth2-20 m,Verheij0041 (holo-
typc), 13-xii-1988;Verheij0078,22-i-1989;Verheij0083,22-i-1989;Verheij0458,24-vi-1989;
Verheij0687, 18-X-1989.Bone TambungIsland, depth20 m,Verheij 1010,23-v-1990. Kudinga-
rcng Keke Island,depth5-25 m,Verheij0409, 15-viii-1989;Verheij0508,28-viii-1989;Verheij
0554, 22-ix-1989. Samalona Island, depth 5 m,Verheij 0518,31-viii-1989. All from the Sper-
monde Archipelago,SWSulawesi,Indonesia.
Mesophyllum funafutiense(Foslie) Verheij, comb. nov.
Lithothamnion philippiiFoslie f. funafutienseFoslie, Kong.Norske Vid. Selsk.Skr. (1899) (2)
1-5(‘funafutiensis’). —Lithothamnionfunafutiense(Foslie)Foslie,Bot.Tidskr. 24 (1901) 17.
E.Verheij: Spongites sulawesiensis, spec. Nov. (Corallinaceae) 239
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Sincere thanks aredue toProf. Dr. C.Kalkman, Dr. G.M.Lokhorst, and Dr. W.F. Prud'homme
vanReine,for critically readingthe manuscript,toDr. D. Penrose and Dr. Wm J.Woelkerlingfor
fruitful discussions, andtoDr. H.P. Nooteboom who providedthe Latin diagnosis.
REFERENCES
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